Le katajjaq inuit au-delà de la patrimonialisation : de l’ethnographie à la recherche-création

Located between the cry and the vocal, katajjaq has always fascinated Westerners but has been the source of numerous controversies (cultural appropriation, epistemic equity, Indigenous cultural continuity). These controversies have hindered intercultural exchanges while as traditional knowledge emerges as a way to deal with contemporary crises. Thus, musicians, composers, and institutions face significant challenges navigating between the temptations of differentialist withdrawal and a quest for reductionist universalism. Competing postures are observed, whether from scientists, Indigenous people, or creators. In all cases, the adopted strategies tend to essentialize katajjaq, as both musicological and heritage approaches have primarily sought to determine what katajjaq is, overlooking its nature as a playful activity that makes things happened. Therefore, it was crucial to pay more attention to katajjaq as an activity rather than its product, and for this reason, research and performance could not be dissociated.The objective of this research-creation was to try to better understand how Inuit culture could be distributed in katajjaq as a technique. The aim was to observe and describe, in situ, its ability to disrupt well-established categories (such as music, tradition, creation, participation, or experimentation) when engaged with other more contemporary techniques. Through (auto)ethnography, we were able to document how katajjaq questioned our own practices. Fieldwork then became our primary creative constraint, and we had to explore contexts in which we could initiate this new approach to a living heritage like katajjaq. The Arts and Sciences device then emerged as a possible new horizon for heritage-making, as they involved a fruitful and symmetrical encounter of different epistemes and practices. These device enable agreement on a shared activity rather than a set of intellectual or aesthetic propositions. Thus, these device, which have proven beneficial in the field of digital arts and contemporary art, seemed to be applicable to traditional arts and knowledge, challenging the roles of dedicated spaces for both research and creation.By closely following katajjaq and combining the strengths of art and anthropology, we found ourselves giving less importance to the work and its author, focusing instead on what happens when people gather around sonic activities. We have thus gained a better understanding of the switch-like role of sound productions when they enable the establishment of a gray area of encounter. This led us to view creation not merely as a renewal of musical language (rupture) but as a way to establish a common language (reunion), linking aesthetic issues to political concerns. Thus, an ideology of progress in the creative world gradually gave way to an ethic of care.

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